Numismatics of Ancient Crete — 1890

Transcribed from the image-only scan by vision OCR; Greek quotations are kept in Greek, citations and footnote markers preserved. Only the French text is translated.

ARGOS (Ἄργος)

Sestini,¹ believing Cretan the fabric of the well-known didrachms of the type with the head of Hera on the obverse and two dolphins accompanying the legend ΑΡΓΕΙΩΝ on the reverse, attributed them today generally to Argos in Argolis² — he imagined a town of Argos in Crete, which would have remained without mention in all the historical sources we possess. Despite the opposition of Ed. de Cadalvène³ and of other numismatists, Mionnet too had classed these pieces, in his Description,⁴ among the uncertain coins of Crete, following in the Supplément⁵ the opinion of Sestini. He says that he cannot share the opinion that these pieces belong to Argos in Argolis, because he could not recognize in them the fabric of Argolis. This error doubtless arises from the fact that the obverse of some of the Argos didrachms was, according to a very widespread usage in Crete, copied by the town of Tylisos in Crete. Ad. de Longpérier also accepted the existence of a town of Argos in Crete, attributing to it — in an article that contains as many errors as attributions — a bronze with the head of Athena on the obverse and the type of an owl accompanied by the legend ΑΡΓΕΙΩΝ on the reverse. But this piece belongs to Argos in Acarnania.⁶

^1–6 The original carries footnote citations here (Sestini, Classes générales and Lettere numismatiche; Borrell, Num. Chron. VI, 1844; Imhoof-Blumer, Monnaies grecques; Recueil des médailles grecques inédites) — see the original page at left for the exact references.

Transcribed from the image-only scan by vision OCR; Greek and Latin quotations are kept in the original, citations and footnote markers preserved. Only the French text is translated.

ARSINOÉ (Ἀρσινόη)

The existence in Crete of a town of Arsinoé is known to us only through Stephanus of Byzantium who, enumerating the towns of this name, says of the ninth, ἐννάτη Λύκτου. This passage is held in great suspicion by Westermann and other critics, whose controversies may be summed up in Berkel's annotation: «Non dubito quin librariorum imperitia monstrum illud lectionis in textum irrepserat. Λύκτου enim neque provinciae neque regionis nomen est, sed oppidi in Creta. Fortasse rescribendum est: ἐννάτη, Λυκίας. Nihil occurrit melius divinandum: nam infra sequitur: ἔστι καὶ ἄλλη Λυκίας. Hac loquendi formula non usus fuisset Stephanus, nisi praecedentibus alterius meminisset.» The numismatists, however, were formerly unanimous in recognizing that Stephanus's passage refers indeed to a Cretan town. Quite recently Mr. Wroth¹ has taken up the question again and regarded the existence of this town — and consequently the attribution of the coins generally accepted until now — as uncertain. Wrongly, we believe, for first of all the correction proposed, ἐννάτη Λυκίας, can in no way be accepted, precisely because the same author says in the same passage ἔστι καὶ ἄλλη Λυκίας; we would thus have two towns of this name in Lycia, which is improbable. This καὶ ἄλλη Λυκίας must not be taken for there is yet a second town of Lycia, but — according to Stephanus's usage of enumerating the towns of different regions by πρώτη, δευτέρα, or else by ἔστι καί…, or ἔστι καὶ ἑτέρα…, or ἔστι καὶ ἄλλη… (for this last usage see e.g. Ἄλπηνος πόλις ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ… ἔστι καὶ ἄλλη Λοκρῶν τῶν Ἐπικνημιδίων, etc.; Ἀλόνησος… ἔστι καὶ ἑτέρα Μακεδονίας, etc.) — it must be understood as: there is yet another town of the same name in Lycia. The hypothesis that Λύκτου would not be the name of a region but indeed that of a town falls if one corrects it to ἐννάτη Λυκτία. Few towns of Crete possessed a territory as extensive as the Lyttians (v. Lyttos). This region was called Λυκτία; see e.g. Strabo:³ «Κεῖται δ' ἐν πεδίῳ (ἡ Κνωσός)… μεταξὺ τῆς Λυκτίας καὶ τῆς Γορτυνίας.» [continued on the next page]

¹ Wroth, Num. Chron., 1884, p. 15, and Catalogue, p. xxxv. ² further examples from Stephanus of Byzantium. ³ Strabo, C. 479, 7. — see the original page at left for the exact references.

Transcribed from the image-only scan by vision OCR; Greek and Latin quotations are kept in the original, citations and footnote markers preserved. Only the French text is translated.

«Κεῖται δ' ἐν πεδίῳ (ἡ Κνωσός)… μεταξὺ τῆς Λυκτίας καὶ τῆς Γορτυνίας.» One must then understand, in Stephanus's passage, that Arsinoé was situated in the country belonging to the Lyttians, that is to say in the Λυκτία; compare also the passage of Strabo (l. c., 14): καὶ ὁ Λισσὴν δὲ τῆς Φαιστίας.

Mr. Wroth also doubts that the fabric of the pieces is Cretan. But one can establish, on the contrary, that nos. 7–13 are identical in every respect with the bronzes of Rithymna, another Cretan city. Their aspect is so Cretan that Eckhel¹ said: «Fabrica et typus adeo mihi videbantur Cretam spirare, ut numquam conspecto continuo quamcumque aliam regionem aversarer, tantumque eram animo obstinato, ut, etiamsi tacerent veteres scriptores omnes, auderem ipse insulam centum per urbes digestam una adhuc civitate locupletare.» Their types too are Cretan: the head of Pallas and the two dolphins recur on the coins of more than one Cretan city.

We do not find Arsinoé on Mr. Kiepert's map. Bursian² supposes it was situated near Itanos. Spratt seeks to fix its site at the same place, a little more towards the north, on the eastern coast. The site indicated by Mr. Müller on the north coast, between Chersonesos and Milatos, at the head of the Gulf of Malia, where one sees some Hellenic ruins, seems to me the most probable, for it has the advantage of lying not far from Lyttos and at the same time near Chersonesos, which precisely at a certain period formed part of the Λυκτία.

Coins of Arsinoé

1. Obv. Female head (Aphrodite?) to right (Æ 18). — Rev. ΑΣ Nude warrior standing, helmeted, to right, the right hand resting on his lance, the left holding his shield set on the ground.
Loebbecke; Paris (2443, 2444) — Mionnet, Suppl. IV; Vienna; London — Wroth, Catalogue; Head, Hist. Num.; Berlin (Rauch); Leake, Num. Hell.; Sestini, Mus. Hedervar.; Combe, Mus. Hunter.

¹ Eckhel, Num. vet. anecd., p. 144. ² Bursian, Geographie von Griechenland, II, p. 577. — see the original page at left for full references.

Coin catalogue (Arsinoé, continued). Obverse / reverse type-descriptions translated; legends, weights (Æ = bronze, with module in mm) and collection references kept in the original. See the plate references at left.

Coins of Arsinoé (cont.)

2. Same head to right (Æ 17). — ΑΡΣΙ Same type, but around the lance a serpent. Imhoof; Munich; Berlin — Prokesch, Revue num.; London — Wroth, Num. Chron.; Harwood.

3. Same to right (Æ 17). — ΑΡΣ Same type. Athens.

4. Same to right (Æ 16). — ΑΡΣΙ to right, same type. London — Wroth, Catalogue.

5. Head of Athena to left (Æ 14). — ΑΡ Σ Cornucopia from which hang two bunches of grapes. P. Lambros; Paris 2444.

6. Same to right (Æ 14). — ΑΡΣΙ to left, same type. Border of dots. Athens; Sestini, Mus. Fontana.

7. Head of Athena to right (Æ 16). — ΑΡΣΙ between two dolphins; the one above is to left, the one below to right and inverted. Paris 2445; Vienna — Eckhel, Num. vet. anecd.; Mionnet; London — Wroth; Mitsotakis; Berlin — Knobelsdorf; Imhoof.

8. Same to right, with the letters ΧΑΙ in countermark (Æ 16). — Same reverse. Vienna.

9. Same to right (Æ 14). — ΑΡΣΙ above. Two dolphins turned downward. Athens, University.

10. Same head to left (Æ 13). — Α Ρ Ι Σ Between the letters, two dolphins. Berlin, two examples.

Coin catalogue (Arsinoé, conclusion). Type-descriptions translated; legends, weights and references kept in the original.

Coins of Arsinoé (concluded)

11. Same to right (barbarous fabric) (Æ 12). — ΑΡΣΙ above. Two dolphins to right; the lower one is inverted. London — Wroth, Num. Chron., 1884; Athens, two examples.

12. Same to right (Æ 14). — Same reverse, but without legend. P. Lambros; Athens, University; Berlin — Prokesch; Wroth, Catalogue, p. 78 (under Rithymna).

13. Same to right (Æ 14). — Ρ Σ Same type. Leake, Num. Hell.

14. Same head to left (Æ 14). — Α Ρ Torch. The whole within a wreath. In commerce.

Transcribed from the image-only scan by vision OCR; Greek quotations are kept in Greek, citations and footnote markers preserved. Only the French text is translated.

AXOS (Ἄξος)

Axos, a town of the region of Ida, lay in the interior of the island, among the gorges on the north of the mountain, in the district of Mylopotamos. Its ruins stand about two miles south-east of Eleutherna, and nearly two miles south of the northern coast. Its name has survived to the present day in that of the modern village of Axo. It was built on uneven ground, and many terraces can still be recognized there today. It possessed a very strong acropolis on a steep hill, thus bearing out the explanation of its name proposed by Stephanus of Byzantium: «Ὀαξός … τινὲς δὲ διὰ τὸ κατάκρημνον εἶναι τὸν τόπον· καλοῦσι γὰρ τοὺς τοιούτους τόπους ἄξους, καθάπερ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀγμούς.»

Its territory extended east of the river Mylopotamos, which seems to have formed the boundary between it and Eleutherna. To the east its land may have reached toward the town of Tylisos. There can be no doubt that Axos possessed a port on the northern coast, a considerable part of which belonged to it. The port’s name was probably Ἀστάλη, but its exact site is unknown to us. It appears, however, that the promontory now called Stavros — the δῖον ἄκρον of the ancients — formed the easternmost point of the territory of Axos. The river that runs through it was called Oaxos.³

We know very little of the history of Axos. According to Herodotus, long before the foundation of Cyrene (631 B.C.) there reigned at Axos a king named Etearchos. This king’s daughter, Phronime, saved by a merchant named Theron from the cruelty of her parents, became the mother of Battos, the founder of Cyrene. From this legend it emerges above all that Axos was a very ancient town, in which the monarchy endured longest. Later it appears to have become a town of considerable importance, if we may judge by its coins and the few inscriptions that belong to it. One of these epigraphic texts concerns the right of asylum of the temple that Dionysos possessed in the town of Teos in Ionia,

[the entry continues on the next page]

^1–6 The original carries footnotes here with topographical and epigraphic references (Pashley, Spratt, Bursian’s Geographie, Vivien de Saint-Martin, C.I.G., and Lebas–Waddington) — see the original page at left for the exact citations.

Axos, continued. Greek quotations kept in Greek; footnote citations summarized — see the original page at left for the exact references.

…belongs to the series of contracts concluded in Crete by the Teian ambassadors Apollodotos and Colotas, and through the mediation of Perdiccas — that is to say about 193 B.C. The Teians, says the inscription, were in alliance with the town of Axos διὰ προγόνων φίλοι καὶ συγγενεῖς. The Axians are among the Cretans who made an alliance with Eumenes, king of Pergamon. Another inscription, found at Delphi and dating from the first years of the 2nd century B.C., contains a letter of the Axians to the Aetolians concerning a family of Axos, and the decree the latter rendered in reply to that letter.¹

Besides Herodotus, our town is also mentioned by Scylax,² by Apollonius of Rhodes,³ by Stephanus of Byzantium after Xenion — who says it was situated not far from Eleutherna (see below) and took its name from Axos, son of Acacallis, daughter of Minos. The Latin authors speak of it too — Vibius Sequester⁴ and Servius.⁵

Finally, the mention of Axos in Hierocles⁶ attests its existence in the first centuries of the Christian era, just as the coin no. 40 attests its political existence in the time of the Romans.

We have also inscriptions of Axos that are of the same epoch.⁷ The scholiast of Pindar, speaking of the following verses:

Φαίης κέ νιν ἄνδρ' ἐν ἀεθληταῖσιν ἔμμεν
Ναξίαν πέτραις ἐν ἄλλαις
Χαλκοδάμαντ' ἀκόναν,

gives us this clarification: «Νομίζονται γε διαφορώταται τῶν ἄλλων [continued on the next page]»

¹ Haussoullier, Bull. de corr. hell., VI, p. 460-66. ² Periplus, 47 (Cod. Lips.). ³ Argonaut. I, 1131. ⁴ De Fluminibus, 5. ⁵ Virgil, Ecl. I, v. 66. ⁶ Synecdemus, no. 8. ⁷ Bulletin de corr. hellénique, 1885, p. 27; Isthm. VI, 107. — full references on the original page at left.

Axos, continued. Greek and Latin quotations kept in the original; footnotes summarized.

…ἀκονῶν αἱ κατὰ τὴν ἐν Κρήτῃ Νάξον. Suidas says likewise: «Ναξία λίθος ἡ κρητικὴ ἀκόνη. Ναξὸς γὰρ πόλις Κρήτης.» Despite this double testimony, doubt always hung over the existence of a town other than Axos in Crete that would be called Naxos, for one maintains positively, after Pliny (36, 10), that the Ναξία λίθος came not from Crete but from Cyprus.¹ In another passage, Pliny² praises the sharpening-stones of Naxos, used with water, distinguishing them from those of Crete and of Laconia, for which one employs olive oil. This passage seemed to authorize Hoeck³ to regard as problematic the existence of a town of Naxos in Crete, and consequently to reject the testimony of Suidas and of Pindar's scholiast. Mr. Miliarakis, in his Κυκλαδικά, follows Hoeck's view and regards the ναξία ἀκόνη as a product of the island of Naxos, one of the Cyclades.⁴ Scholars believed for a moment, following the publication of Mr. P. Lambros⁵ — in which this numismatist made known the Cretan didrachms nos. 1 and 2 — that the question was definitively resolved in favour of the existence of a Cretan town of Naxos, distinct from Axos. When we had, in our turn, studied this question closely, and being eager to have the originals of the pieces described by Mr. P. Lambros, we wrote, in the manuscript memoir we submitted to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, the following lines: «The comparative study of what we know of the towns of Axos and Naxos can lead us, we believe, to the probability of identifying the two towns. We note indeed:

«1° That Axos and Naxos took their name from a son of Apollo and of Acacallis, daughter of Minos: Stephanus of Byzantium, Ὄαξος… ἀπὸ Ὀάξου τοῦ Ἀκακαλλίδος τῆς θυγατρὸς τοῦ Μίνω; Servius, ad Virgil. Ecl., I, 66: «Oaxem Philesthenes ait Apollini et Anchialae filium. Hunc Oaxem in Creta oppidum condidisse, quod suo nomine nominavit.» Schol. of Apollonius of Rhodes, lib. IV: Ἀλέξανδρος δέ, ἐν πρώτῳ Κρητικῶν, τῇ Ἀκακαλλίδι συνελθεῖν φησι τὸν Ἑρμῆν καὶ τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα· καὶ ἐκ μὲν Ἀπόλλωνος γενέσθαι Νάξον, ἐκ δὲ Ἑρμοῦ Κύδωνα, ἀφ' οὗ ἡ πόλις Κυδωνία καλεῖται.

«2° That the supposed coins of Naxos bear as types the laureate head of Apollo and the tripod, which make up for the greater part the types of the coins of Axos.

¹ Engel, on Cyprus, A, p. 57. ^2–6 Pliny; Hoeck, Kreta; Miliarakis, Κυκλαδικά; P. Lambros, Περὶ τῆς Ναξίας πέτρας (1859); Unedirte Münzen von der kretischen Stadt Naxos, in Zeitschr. für Num., 1885. — see the original at left.

Axos, conclusion of the discussion, then the start of its coin catalogue. Greek kept in Greek; type-descriptions translated, legends and references preserved.

«3° The type of Zeus, which appears alone on the coins of Axos beside that of Apollo, seems to be not a primitive type but a later one, which ends by predominating and finally by figuring alone on the most recent pieces of Axos.

«4° We find the name of Axos written in different ways: Ϝάξος, Ϝαξίων, Ὄαξος, Πάξος, Ἄξος.¹ We do not therefore see what reasons would prevent us from regarding Naxos as a form of Axos.

«We hold it very probable that Naxos and Axos are but two forms of the same name, according to the Cretan dialect, which presents so many curious particularities. Consequently, the pieces with Ϝαξίων and Ἀξίων must be classed after those said to be of Naxos — which, moreover, accords marvellously with the chronological classification of these coins.»

A year after writing the foregoing, we had occasion to see the two pieces in question, and this examination only confirmed our conjecture. For, as we wrote in an article published in the Zeitschrift für Numismatik,² the letter Ϟ which Lambros took for an Ν is in fact nothing but a digamma of a new form. An article by Mr. Halbherr, published almost at the same time as ours, confirmed this opinion in the most desirable way: he made known inscriptions in which, for the first time, the digamma is met with under the form Ϟ. It is interesting to add that, in his own researches, our learned master and friend M. Imhoof-Blumer had reached the same conclusion before the publication of M. Halbherr's dissertation and of our own.

Coins of Axos

1. Laureate head of Apollo to right (AR 25). — ΝΟΞΞΑΝ to left. Tripod, in an incuse square whose corners are rounded. Berlin (11.72) — P. Lambros, Zeitschr. für Num., XIII, 125, 1 (as Naxos); London (11.22) — Wroth, Num. Chron., 1884, and Catalogue (as Apollonia). The legend is so effaced that its first editor could not make it out; it can however be read by comparing the piece with that of the Berlin Museum. The London example is overstruck on a piece of Cnosos (labyrinth and ΒΙϜ).

¹ Scylax, Peripl., 47; Herodotus IV, 154; G. Curtius, Grundzüge der gr. Etymol. ² Zeitschr. für Num., vol. XIV, 1886, pp. 83, 92. — see the original at left.

Axos catalogue (continued). Type-descriptions translated; legends, weights (AR = silver, Æ = bronze), metrology and references kept in the original. Rev. tripod throughout unless noted.

Coins of Axos (cont.)

2. Same head to right (the wreath barely visible) (AR 27). — ϜΑϜΜ to right, ϜΟΣ to left. Tripod on a line forming an exergue; concave field. Paris (11.67) — P. Lambros; F. Halbherr, Nuove monete d'Axos (1886); Svoronos, Zeitschrift für Num., XIV, 1886.

3. Same to right (AR 24). — Tripod in a concave field. Imhoof (12.11); P. Lambros (11.21).

4. Laureate head of Apollo to right (AR 27). — Tripod; concave field. Athens, University (11.95). — This piece is overstruck on a didrachm of Cnosos known until now only from the British Museum example (Minotaur; rev. young virile head in the labyrinth).

5. Same to right (AR 20). — Same reverse. Mitsotakis (5.78); Imhoof (5.66); Athens (5.67); Imhoof (5.55); London — Wroth, Num. Chron. (Apollonia) and Catalogue (Naxos) (5.16); Hoffmann (5.60).

6. Same to right (AR 16). — Same reverse. Photiades-Pascha (2.61); Athens (2.67); Lambros (2.66); Comnos, Rev. num., 1865 (2.60, as Apollonia); Mitsotakis (2.65).

7. Female head (Artemis) to right (AR 10). — Same reverse. Imhoof (0.88); Comnos (0.87); Imhoof (0.48); Imhoof (0.39).

8. Young head (Apollo) to left (Æ 14). — ϜΑΞΙ to left, ΟΝ to right. Tripod; concave field. Mitsotakis.

9. Female head (Artemis) to right (Æ 14). — Tripod on a line; concave field.

10. Laureate head of Zeus(?) to right (AR 19). — ΟΝΞ to right, ΑϜ to right. Tripod; concave field. Paris (4.55) — Babelon, Revue numism., 1885.

Axos catalogue (continued). Type-descriptions translated; legends, weights, metrology and references kept in the original. Rev. tripod throughout unless noted; [monogram] marks a control-mark visible on the original at left.

Coins of Axos (cont.)

11. Laureate head of Apollo to right (AR 22). — Α — Ξ between the feet of a tripod; to left Ω — Ν in the field, a thunderbolt. Concave field. Naples 7608 (11.90).

12. Same to right (AR 19). — ϜΑΞ to left, ΙΩΝ to right. Tripod; concave field. Modena (5.46) — Pashley, Travels; Brera (5.40); Combe, Mus. Hunter (5.36); Gotha (5.26) — Liebe, Gotha numar.; Haym; Dutens; Kenner, Die Münzen von Axos (collection of Archduke Maximilian); London (4.95) — Wroth, Num. chron., 1888.

13. Same to right (AR 12). — Same reverse. Paris 2448 (0.82) — Babelon, Revue num.; Berlin (0.65); London (0.64) — Wroth, Catalogue; Leake, Num. Hell.

14. Laureate head of Apollo to right; border of dots (Æ 15). — ϜΑΞΙΩΝ Tripod. Berlin (3.52) — Rauch; Dutens.

15. Laureate head of Zeus to right; border of dots (fine fabric) (Æ 18). — ϜΑΞΙ to left, ΩΝ to right. Tripod. In the field to right [monogram], below [monogram]. Turin; Imhoof (4.35); Berlin (4.15); Vienna, two examples; Athens, two examples; London — Wroth, Catalogue; Leake; Combe, Mus. Hunter.

16. Another similar, countermarked with a head of Apollo with the quiver on the back (Æ 18). London — Wroth, Catalogue; Mitsotakis.

17. Another, countermarked with a head of Hermes (Æ 19). Athens.

18. Same to right (Æ 18). — Same reverse, but with the monogram [monogram] below the tripod. Paris 2450 — Pellerin, Recueil, III; Berlin (4.54).

Axos catalogue (continued). Type-descriptions translated; legends, weights, metrology and references kept in the original. Rev. tripod unless noted.

Coins of Axos (cont.)

19. Same to right (Æ 17). — Same reverse. Piece countermarked with a head of Dionysos. Imhoof (4.68).

20. Same to right (Æ 20). — Same reverse, but the first monogram only. Paris 2449; Loebbecke; Rollin & Feuardent.

21. Same to right (Æ 20). — Same reverse, with Α below the tripod. Rollin & Feuardent.

22. Same to right (Æ 19). — Same reverse; without any monogram. Munich (3.20); Vienna — Kenner; Athens; Paris 2451; Pashley, Travels.

23. Same to right (Æ 15). — Same reverse. Piece countermarked with a head of Hermes. Athens, University.

24. Head of Artemis to right (Æ 12). — ϜΑΞ to left, ΙΩΝ to right. Winged thunderbolt. Berlin; Athens; Munich.

25. Same to right (Æ 12). — ϜΑΞ—[monogram] to left, and Ν — ΙΩΝ to right. Imhoof (1.42); Imhoof (1.00).

26. Same to right (Æ 12). — Same reverse, but with ϜΑΞΙ only and without monogram. Rollin & Feuardent.

27. Laureate head of Zeus to right (medium fabric) (Æ 16). — ϜΑΞΙ to left, ΩΝ to right. Tripod; border of dots. London — Wroth, Catalogue.

28. Diademed head of Zeus to right (Æ 17). — Α Ι Tripod; border of dots. Mitsotakis.

Axos catalogue (continued). Type-descriptions translated; legends, weights, metrology and references kept in the original. Rev. tripod unless noted.

Coins of Axos (cont.)

29. Same to right (Æ 18). — Α Ξ Tripod; border of dots. Mitsotakis; Athens; Loebbecke; Leake, Num. Hell. suppl.; Hunter.

30. Same laureate head to right (Æ 17). — ΑΞ to right, [monogram] to left. Tripod; border of dots. In commerce.

31. Same to right (Æ 16). — Same reverse, but the monogram [monogram]. Athens.

32. Laureate head of Zeus to right (AR 16). — Ϝ Α Tripod; border of dots. Berlin (2.61) — Fox (as Elis).

33. Same to right (AR 16). — Same legend and type, but with ΚΡΑ and a thunderbolt above the tripod. London (1.95) — Wroth, Catal.; Mitsotakis (2.65); Saint-Florian (2.22); Vienna (2.16) — Cimel. Aust. (as Falisci); Eckhel, Catal. Mus. Caes. (Falerii) and Doctrina; Mionnet, Descript. (Falerii) and Supplément (Elis); J. Lambros.

34. Laureate head of Zeus to right; border of dots (AR 14). — Ϝ Α Ξ Ι Ω Ν Tripod; above, a thunderbolt. Border of dots. Loebbecke; Paris 2452 — Pellerin, Supplém.; Brussels; Berlin (1.62); Imhoof (1.60); Berlin (1.56); Berlin (1.30); Athens, three examples; London — Wroth, Catalogue; Rollin & Feuardent; Vienna — Eckhel, Catalogue; Mus. Sanclem.; Pashley, Travels.

35. Laureate head of Zeus to right (Æ 22). — Α Ξ Winged thunderbolt. Imhoof.

Axos catalogue (concluded). Type-descriptions translated; legends, weights, metrology and references kept in the original.

Coins of Axos (concluded)

36. Diademed head of Zeus to right; border of dots (Æ 20). — Α Ξ Winged thunderbolt; border of dots. Imhoof (3.85); Berlin, nine examples weighing 3.40 to 6.44; Athens, three examples; London — Wroth, Catalogue (nos. 12–14); Paris 2453–2455 — Pellerin, Recueil (as Axia of Locris); Mionnet, Description (Axia of Locris); The Hague; Loebbecke, two examples; Wiczay, Hederv. (Axia of Locris).

37. Another, countermarked with a head of Hermes wearing the petasos (Æ 20). Berlin, three examples (4.10–3.62); Imhoof (4.56); Imhoof (3.67); London — Wroth, Catalogue; Rollin & Feuardent (2.23); Paris 2456, 2457.

38. Another, countermarked with a diademed head of Zeus (Æ 20). Berlin 10743 (4.82); London — Wroth, Catal.

39. Another, countermarked with a bee or a fly (Æ 20). Paris 2458 (7.04).

40. ΤΙ ΚΑΙ(Σ ΣΕΒΑ)ΣΤΟΣ Ε ΚΟ ΛΥ. Laureate head of Tiberius to right (Æ 26). — ΚΡΗΤΕΣ ΑΞΙ ΣΥΝΚΛΗΤΩ. Bearded and veiled head of the Senate to right; border of dots. Paris 2460 (7.67) — De Witte, Revue num., 1862; Babelon, Revue num., 1885.

Transcribed from the image-only scan by vision OCR; Greek quotations kept in Greek, citations and footnote markers preserved. Only the French text is translated.

BIANNOS (Βίαννος)

Modern travellers and geographers have readily succeeded in recovering the ruins and the site of Biannos.¹ Two hours north of the southern coast, to the north-east of the ancient site of Priansos, in a valley lying among the mountains, fairly near a village that preserves the ancient name Βιάνος, are found the ruins of a Greek town: a few insignificant terraces, fortifications, tombs and wells.² This site agrees with the information we draw from the texts. The author of the Stadiasmus tells us that Biannos was situated between Hierapytna and Lebena, fairly far from the sea.³

It must not be confused with another town or port of Crete, quite insignificant, situated on the western coast of the island, north of the promontory Κριοῦ μέτωπον.⁴ This second Biannos may have been a mere port of no importance, belonging perhaps to Polyrrhenion. One must therefore not think of attributing to it the coins described below.

The autonomy of Biannos is attested not only by the coins, but also by its two contracts with Teos of Ionia, relating to the right of asylum of the temple of Dionysos of the town of Teos (190 and 160? B.C.), and by the participation of its inhabitants (ΒΙΑΝΝΙΟΙ) in the alliance of the Cretans with King Eumenes of Pergamon (after 170 B.C.).⁵

It is not easy to say down to what period Biannos preserved its autonomy. It is not improbable that it ended by submitting to Hierapytna, the great neighbouring town. From the text of Hierocles⁶ and of the Notitiae, it follows that Biannos was, in the 6th century of our era, one of the twenty-two towns of Crete and the seat of a Christian bishop. It is found again in the Tabula Peutingeriana, but its name is there corrupted into Blenna.⁷

^1–7 Hoeck, Kreta I; Pashley, Travels I; Spratt I; Bursian II; Stadiasmus, §§ 320, 335–336; Naber, Mnemosyne; Lebas & Waddington, Voyage V; Synecdemus; Geogr. Rav. (ed. Parthey). — see the original page at left for the exact references.

Biannos, conclusion of the notice, then its coin catalogue. Greek kept in Greek; type-descriptions translated, legends and references preserved.

Stephanus of Byzantium teaches us that it took its name from Biennos, one of the Curetes, or ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ τὸν Ἄρην γενομένης βίας ὃν ἐνταῦθα δεδέσθαι φασὶν ὑπὸ Ὤτου καὶ Ἐφιάλτου, etc. — but we shall speak of this legend in the second volume.

According to a tradition reported by the same author, the town of Vienne in Dauphiné, in France, would have been a colony of the Cretan town.

Coins of Biannos

1. Female head to right (Æ 15). — ΒΙΑΝΙ to left, above. A flower. Concave field. Paris (3.30) — Paul Lambros, Παρνασσός, 1879, and Zeitsch. für Num., VII; Babelon, Revue numism., 1885; in commerce.

2. Same head to left (Æ 13). — ΒΙ in a circle of dots. Berlin — Prokesch; P. Lambros, l. c.; Svoronos, Zeitsch. für Numism., XIV.